Shubman Gill’s century powers GT into IPL 2026 final, Rabada praises Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Gujarat Titans defeated Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 to reach the IPL 2026 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Experts Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Kagiso Rabada, praised Shubman Gill’s century and Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s standout performances in the season.

Hyderabad: Gujarat Titans bounced back strongly from their Qualifier 1 defeat to beat Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 and book their place in the IPL 2026 final, where they will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’, JioStar experts Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin, along with GT pacer Kagiso Rabada, shared their thoughts on Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s exploits, captain Shubman Gill’s century in a knockout match, and the highly anticipated Final between RCB and GT.

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“The plan was to back our strengths, as we normally do, and hopefully get early wickets. We did get two early wickets, but then they fought back, and we missed our mark by bowling a few too many short balls, where we probably wanted to challenge them a bit more upfront. They got away from us a little, but we knew we weren’t completely out of it because we knew we could still get wickets,” Rabada said.

“I think we had the game under control until the 19th over. It was pretty tough for Rashid to come on and bowl on this wicket as a spinner against some genuine power hitters. We probably felt that 180-190 was what we should have restricted them to, barring the dropped catch,” he said.

On ‘fearless prodigy’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Rabada said: “He just keeps amazing everyone who watches the game. He’s got such fast hands, and he picks length quickly. He’s got so much energy. When you’re young, you have so much energy and no fear, and that’s exactly what he’s shown, no fear and just a natural instinct for the game that allows him to perform the way he is performing. At this stage, you throw age out of the window; it doesn’t matter how old he is. It’s amazing what he’s doing.”

On his opening bowling partner, Mohammed Siraj, Rabada said: “Siraj’s my partner this season. We’ve just been trying to operate as a partnership. If he’s putting pressure on from the other end, then hopefully I can do the same, and that’s how we get wickets. Everyone knows him. He’s got a lot of heart, and he’s got a lot of skill too. What a bowler! It’s lovely to be bowling with him. It just increases your chances of getting a wicket because someone at the other end is applying just as much pressure, if not more.”

JioStar expert Anil Kumble heaped praise on Shubman Gill for his Captain’s innings in a knockout game.

“It was clinical. The way he approached his batting, you could see that he was really switched on and wanted to get to that final. He would obviously have been disappointed with the performance against RCB in Qualifier 1. But the way he batted, he just took the bowlers on. As Sai Sudharsan mentioned, they wanted to go hard in the first over, make a statement, and then continue from there,” Kumble said.

“The way Shubman batted, not just against the fast bowlers but even against spin, was outstanding. He used his feet brilliantly against Ravindra Jadeja. It was a chanceless, classic innings, a typical Shubman innings. To reach a final with a hundred, it was truly a captain’s knock,” he said.

Another JioStar expert Ravichandran Ashwin looked ahead to the TATA IPL 2026 Final between RCB and GT:

“The two most consistent teams have reached the final. Both finished on 18 points after the league stage, so they deserve to be there. I have always said that GT have been the surprise package for me. I never expected them to have the strength to reach the final. I still feel it’s 50-50. But if GT win this time, and you must have heard about ‘Money Heist’, this would be the IPL heist.”